Russia has long been waging operations against democracies using all of the asymmetric tools ASD tracks—information manipulation, cyberattacks, malign finance, civil society subversion, and state economic coercion. The Kremlin’s geographic scope in conducting operations to undermine democracy continues to expand and its tactics continue to evolve. Find ASD’s work on Russia’s attempts to interfere in democracies on this page.
Interference Matters
Catch Me If EU Can: How RT and Sputnik Evade EU Content Bans
Josh Rudolph Talks Sanctioning Russia on ‘The Power Vertical’
How do you sanction a problem like Russia? For nearly a decade, the United States and its allies have been levying sanctions against Moscow in an effort to deter its revanchist behavior and contain its malign influence activities. And over this per [...]
How to Structure a Foreign Malign Influence Center
On Monday, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) confirmed to Politico that it is working to establish a Foreign Malign Influence Center. The center, which was first authorized as part of the 2020 Defense Authorization bill, wil [...]
Regulating Beneficial Ownership for National Security
Key Point Beneficial ownership reform offers a historic opportunity—if strongly implemented—to build resilience against what has become a leading national security threat: malign actors funded by and weaponizing the proceeds of kleptocracy to harm t [...]
Hamilton Toplines: April 19-25, 2021
Russia’s coronavirus vaccine coverage last week featured, as per usual, positive news about Sputnik V—such as Argentina starting local production of Sputnik V, the arrival of Sputnik in Venezuela, and reports of the vaccine’s overall efficacy—and ne [...]
Nad’a Kovalčíková Discusses Putin’s Annual Speech on Euronews’ Good Morning Europe
ASD Program Manager and Fellow Naďa Kovalčíková spoke to Euronews ahead of Russian President Putin’s annual address to the nation. She discussed Russia’s destabilizing efforts to advance its strategic interests, Russia’s tense diplomatic relations w [...]
Hamilton Toplines: April 12-18, 2021
Russian state media and diplomats predictably denounced last week’s new U.S. sanctions on the country, which the Russian Foreign Ministry characterized as an “attack.” They also criticized the rationale behind the sanctions, blamed the United States [...]
Josh Rudolph in Just Security: Limited Sanctions Will Not Deter Putin, But They Are a Fine Start
The Russia sanctions announced by the Biden administration on Thursday did not impose severe financial costs on Moscow, although the measures are stronger than those of the Trump administration because they are credibly reinforced by the president’s [...]
Hamilton Toplines: April 5-11, 2021
Amid heightened tensions in eastern Ukraine, Russian state media and diplomats last week reupped their usual narratives about the conflict: blaming Ukraine for the situation, suggesting that Russia poses no threat (but hinting that Russia could inte [...]
Jessica Brandt Discusses Russia, China, and Iran’s Information Strategies in the Vaccine Contest with NDN
Head of Policy and Research Jessica Brandt joined NDN to discuss the great power race between the United States/the West and authoritarian countries to vaccinate the world and be the ones to defeat the coronavirus. Related Reading: Influence-enza: [...]
Hamilton Toplines: March 29-April 4, 2021
Last week, Russian state media—and in one instance the Russian Foreign Ministry—continued to hammer the United States over the migrant crisis at the southern border, characterizing the situation as a humanitarian disaster and highlighting reports of [...]
Nad’a Kovalčíková Discusses the U.S.-Europe Partnership within NATO with 168 Ora
Program Manager and Fellow Nad’a Kovalčíková spoke to the Hungarian weekly 168 Ora about U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken's talks with NATO leaders and the joint EU-U.S. approach to Russia and China. Below is an English translation of the inte [...]
Josh Rudolph in Foreign Policy: Congress Can Do Better to Fight Weaponized Corruption
The U.S. government must reimagine FinCEN as an essential one-stop shop to support law enforcement with sophisticated financial intelligence and formidable analytic capabilities, Malign Finance Fellow Josh Rudolph and Gary Kalman write in Foreign Po [...]